Cycling Training: Avoid Common Training Mistakes

Dead Zone Syndrome

Typically found in the time-crunched, who often feel that every moment on the bike is so precious that they must go hard. Here's how to break free from your rut...

Joe Lindsey

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Etiology

This condition, common among cyclists, is brought on by repeated training at a single, moderately hard intensity, known as Zone 3. It afflicts enthusiasts who push the pedals hard but don't follow a training program, as well as amateur racers who have the great Eddy Merckx's famous maxim, "Ride lots," indelibly burned into their brains.

Symptoms and Signs

Those suffering from the malady may not be aware of it, due to the syndrome's insidious nature. That's because, at a minimum, it maintains fitness, says Neal Henderson, a USA Cycling and USA Triathlon certified coach: "You're sweating, you burn calories and you get good endurance out of it." A former hard case himself, Henderson is now the sports science manager at Colorado's Boulder Center for Sports Medicine and is best known for coaching Taylor Phinney to a spot on the U.S. Olympic team in Beijing. Many of his clients are former sufferers.

Dead Zone Syndrome often strikes in summer, after the body has reaped as much training benefit as possible from single-zone riding. It can manifest as a feeling of monotony, both physical and psychological. "Moderate-level intensity provides a constant stimulus to your sympathetic nervous system, your 'fight or flight' response," Henderson explains. "So if you're stressing that system to the same degree day-to-day, there'll be less recovery." In other words, you're wearing yourself down.

There's a plateau in Zone 3. "You're working kind of hard, but not doing a lot to change your physiology," Henderson says. In order for your body to adapt and improve, you need to follow a program that hits the extremes, he says, especially the high end.

Treatment

Try Henderson's "16+5" program for three weeks. Training is stacked in cycles of 16 "on" days with five days of recovery between cycles, which can be repeated as necessary. The time-crunched will experience better training benefit in less time than usual (it requires no more than 10 hours a week). Those with stale legs should note improvement in as little as one full cycle. Finally, this plan reduces the potential for overuse injury, because you're riding less overall and varying the intensity to give yourself time to recover.

The Rx: The 16+5 Plan

Because most cyclists have more time to ride on the weekends, this program begins on a Saturday and includes only shorter rides during the workweek.

NOTES: This training plan assumes that you ride 6 to 10 hours per week and have an adequate training base. If you slacked off all summer, put in at least 3 weeks of Zone 2 or 3 riding before adding intensity. n Before starting any interval workout, always do a 10- to 20-minute warm-up in Zone 1, and cool down 5 to 15 minutes in Zone 1 afterward. n Spin-ups: In a low gear, begin at a comfortable cadence and end at the highest possible cadence without bouncing in the saddle. n To build climbing strength, do Zone 3 intervals on an uphill.

The Zones

Power-based training, using watts, is the best, most cutting-edge way to maximize your potential, but the trusty Zone system, which has been around for years, offers a bare-bones approach that will take you far.

3. Tempo
RPE: 5 or 6
Feels Like: Moderate pace; can talk, but not necessarily in full, flowing sentences
You're Thinking: All right, now this is a workout

4. Threshold/Steady State
RPE: 7 or 8
Feels Like: Hardest pace you can go for 20 to 30 minutes; can talk, but only in 4-letter words
You're Thinking: Man, I hope (ugh) the pace backs off (snort) soon

5. Max Power
RPE: 9 or 10
Feels Like: An all-out effort you can sustain for only a couple of minutes, max
You're Thinking: Not much, because you have tunnel vision, and self-preservation instincts have taken over